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The Spiritual Deception of Yoga

William - Fife, Scotland

It is the purpose of this short testimony to show that yoga is a spiritual deception.

If you think that you can use yoga only for physical training and not be affected by its spiritual side, you are wrong. You are wrong if you believe the many websites and teachers in the West who declare that yoga is just a harmless physical exercise.

The Bible warns of such spiritual seduction: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;” (1 TIMOTHY 4:1).

Speaking from my own experience, I am convinced that yoga is one of the seducing doctrines God expressly warns about in the above scripture. I started yoga at age 16, and practiced every day for 1-2 hours. It seemed to strengthen my body and improve my flexibility. At the age of 18, I dived into it (I was at that time unemployed) and did some 4-6 hours of yoga daily. I was convinced that yoga enlightened my own spiritual intelligence and enhanced my physical fitness. I would have vehemently denied that there is anything religious in yoga or that I was in any way influenced by the spiritual or religious aspects of yoga. The following is why I think differently today.

The Roots of Yoga

Let us take a small look at the roots of the yoga tree - and also have a smell at some of its fruit - for well did Christ say in MATTHEW 7:16 “Ye shall know them by their fruits.”

I am convinced that yoga is one of the seducing doctrines God expressly warns about...

It was the Lord Krishna (one of Hindu's many millions of deities), in the Bhagavad Gita, who introduced the ritual of yoga as a way of achieving union with the universe. The Sanskrit word yoga actually means "union" or "yoking", aiming at bringing about the union of the human spirit with the spirit of the universe. But what is more deeply meant is a separation from the physical illusion of life.

A great part of Hindu teaching is that this world and all we see, is nothing more than an illusion.

Ironically, while yoga in the west is, more often than not, promoted as a way to achieve health and a better way of living; in the east, where it originated, it is more openly understood to be a way of dying.

In Hindu and Buddhist writings yoga is described as the only sure way of escaping the endless cycle of reincarnation and the laws of karma, thereby enabling someone to reach the Hindu idea of heaven (named "moksha") – or in the terminology of Buddhist teachings, to return to the buddhistic void (named "Sunyata") - where the idea of it being a way of dying reaches its finality.

Moksha is by most Hindu schools understood to mean the state "which is beyond being", while "Sunyata" means simply emptiness. Both of these accomplishments have, as their finality, the destruction of the self.

In other words, the physical exercises and positions ("asanas"), along with the breathing techniques ("pranayama"), and meditation ("dhyana") were originally developed for VERY spiritual and religious reasons. The Bhagavad Gita testifies of it in over 50 verses, and certainly it would be difficult not to classify the Bhagavad Gita as a guide to Hindu religion.1

How Yoga Became Popular in the West

Although yoga has been known to the West since before Christ, and has been practiced in the East for almost 3000 years, it really only took off in the West in a significant way around the same time of the explosion of the drug culture in the 60’s, and the growth of certain types of music.

Many people involved with psychedelic drugs were (and are still today) attracted to any experience that offered an expansion of conscience, or a change of perceived reality.

It was due to this changing Western (drug) culture that many Hindu missionaries (among other spiritual leaders peddling new religions) slowly began to realise that through the new psychedelic experiences, the West was now entertaining a transcendental experience, or non-physical reality that it had previously been unaware of—or more likely, had simply chosen to ignore. Mind expansion, or altered states of conscience and a search for spirituality, without the constraints of religion were suddenly all the rage, and anything that offered a new experience was sought after with great interest. Very few questions were asked as to the source of these new highs and experiences.

Thus the West was gradually introduced to an ancient Eastern religion through the medium of yoga.

One of the Lies Today

One branch or path of yoga is called Hatha Yoga and this is probably what most people in the West associate with the word "yoga" – believing it is being practised only for mental and physical health.2

Some of the positions in yoga are not quite as harmless as they may appear, but are obviously of occult origin, as in the “cobra”, which is usually followed by “greeting the sun” – and taking the pose of the “mountain”. These are all positions which are designed to welcome Hindu gods.

In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika it mentions the following in chapter one:

“Salutations to Shiva, who taught the science of Hatha Yoga. It is the aspirant’s stairway to the heights of Raja Yoga... Yogi Svatmarama … explains the science of hatha for one reason – Raja Yoga.”

So here we see clearly that Hatha Yoga was specifically designed to lead the practitioner onto Raja Yoga. Raja Yoga, however, is chiefly concerned with the cultivation of the mind through meditation.

Shiva is also known as the Destroyer (of evil) or Yogeshwara (Lord of Yogis). Shiva's consort is Devi, or Kali, the goddess of death.

Therefore, the idea that Hatha Yoga is "purely physical" is very much once again a distortion of the truth (in other words, an outright lie) and indeed begs the question "Why the cover up or confusion?"

Ouija boards, Tarot cards, Astrology signs and symbols may all seem harmless to some, but like yoga, they have an idea attached

Of course, it could be asked whether something purely physical can have any spiritual implications. One needs only look at such practices as Ouija boards, Tarot cards, Astrology signs and symbols may all seem harmless to some, but like yoga, they have an idea attached to them that is the problem.

A further example that shows how something physical can have spiritual implications is to be found in the account of the Garden of Eden. For in Genesis chapter 3 we have an introduction to the enemy of God and mankind, making the suggestion to Adam’s wife, Eve, that by doing something purely physical (i.e. eating from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) she would not only receive a mighty spiritual blessing, but would indeed live forever, and become as a god.

The real result of this action was Adam and Eve being cast out from Eden and the Fall of Man. Ever since then, man has been trying to sneak back into paradise by jumping over the hedge as it were (using drugs and mysticism).

Karma & Reincarnation

Yoga was specifically designed as a way to escape the constant and never-ending deaths and rebirths of reincarnation - ("...the fire of yoga burns all Karmas", Kundalini Yoga, by Sri Swami Sivananda).

There is much discussion amongst the various Hindu branches concerning karma itself. It is variously claimed that it is not so strict, that it does not always come to pass in this life, it may not come to pass for a few lives, and some consider Karma to be a very just law, as it demands equal in repayment (very much a black eye for a black eye). In any case, as a "law" it is very impersonal, and knows no pity neither does it accept any extenuating circumstances.

If it is a law that demands equal in repayment, then the following sequence of events must occur:

If I steal from someone - I will have something stolen from me, in this life or a next. This means that someone else will have to take the role of thief (#2). Which means that thief #2 will have something stolen from him, in this life or a next. This means that someone else will have to take the role of thief (#3)….And so the wheel turns continually.

Does one remember what one did wrong? Believers in reincarnation will respond with "in the sub-conscience" but how may I change if it is locked away in my sub-conscience? How can I learn from it?

Reincarnation, which was designed to help us work off bad karma, can be upwards or downwards - meaning I could be reborn as an animal or even a vegetable (of course, the various branches of Hindu disagree on this also).

Basically I am being given countless chances, in order to reach a heaven where my personality is then destroyed.

To further investigate this, we shall take an example of such a person as Pol Pot (leader of the Cambodian communist movement known as the Khmer Rouge) - responsible for the deaths of 1.7 to 2.5 million persons.

In order to work off his bad karma, he would have to participate in a minimum of - let’s say a conservative 1.5 million - reincarnations (that's ignoring the tortured victims whose lives he also destroyed).

The idea of karma however goes so far that some believers will not help people...

The idea of karma however goes so far that some believers will not help people - as you may inadvertently be helping someone who is in trouble due to bad karma, and who is supposed to be working it off - and so by helping them you actually take away their chance to work it off.

This all stands of course in total opposition to the Word of God - as stated in HEBREWS 9:27 - "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"

Is it not a strange situation that in India, where the teaching of karma and reincarnation has been alive for longer than anywhere else in the world, that the economic progress there only breeds social injustice and that poverty, starvation and terrible suffering just continue to increase?

Personal Result of Yoga - Awakening Kundalini

It may be true that the asanas (positions) and even perhaps the pranayama (breathing) can have health benefits, but the ultimate goal in yoga is something much more sinister. Very few Western yoga teachers actually touch upon this aspect of yoga – but according to the ancient texts, it is indeed the main aim - the asanas and the pranayama really intend to produce the awakening of what is known as "kundalini power", which is taught as being a snake coiled around the base of the spine.

When this serpent is awakened, it will then move up through the body, through the "chakras" (the so-called life-force centres) and once it reaches the "crown chakra" (or the top of the head) it will explode into the so called "thousand-petalled lotus".

This is when the danger really starts, and for many people from this point onwards it is almost impossible to return to any semblance of normality. The ancient texts actually include a warning about this, but most Western teachers are either ignorant of it, being too aware of the vast revenues that yoga can bring in, or are indeed themselves deceived and are willingly leading people down a very dangerous path.

Swiss occultist Carl Jung, in his book “The Collected Works of CG Jung" - termed it "a deliberately induced psychotic state". Now, in most societies, deliberately inducing a psychotic state in oneself would lead to various sections of the Mental Health Act being quoted whilst having oneself bundled into a white van by some police officers.

I myself came very close to this stage. After I practiced yoga intensively (4-6 hours a day) for about a year, I began to be very depressed and nervous, but as I was unaware of the cause of this depression, I continued to use yoga as a way of filling my day.

One day, whilst being deep in pranayama and meditation, something in my mind exploded...

One day, whilst being deep in pranayama and meditation, something in my mind exploded, and my conscience turned white. Suddenly, there were beings dressed in white robes at my side (in the corner of my eye only, in my peripheral vision), telling me that they would guide me into a new life if I would only continue with my yoga.

I did not like that too much, and did not understand what was happening; neither had any of the books I had been reading mentioned anything about this manifestation, so I stopped. I was left in a sort of semi-aware state at that point (similar to the point one would reach just before or after the peak of an LSD trip), and I was also very much aware of what I could only describe as a rent in the fabric of this reality.

I went back into my asanas / pranayama the next day again, and within minutes these spiritual beings were back, with the same advice. They were insistent that I listen to them. There was a palpable anger now also given off by them, as I had consciously rejected them by stopping the day before.

I stopped again, and never returned to it. But I was always aware that these spirit-beings were angry with me, and I had no peace at all from then on. Only in drunken oblivion or drugs could I find any peace.

What Do You Do about It?

Things may not have become as bad as that for you, but be aware anyway – if you practice yoga, you practice Hinduism; and the more you do it, the more you open yourself up to the spiritual side of it. Thousands of others have experienced very similar things while practising yoga. Not all have been as fortunate as I in being set free from this – many have become insane, or indeed been driven to suicide.3

It was at the point in my life when things really got out of control that I met a Christian and I started going to Christian meetings (more for the very decent food than anything else). On the second meeting I was offered the opportunity to really find and experience God.

I received the Holy Spirit within seconds through the laying on of hands, as described in the Acts of the Apostles. As soon as I had received this freely given gift from God, a real peace came; the voices and pressures left, and joy and realisation came almost instantly. The blackness that had followed me around (the "rent in the fabric of this reality") was also gone.

My life has changed drastically since then. Instead of constantly focusing on myself I try to focus on other people. Instead of trying to find self-fulfillment through yoga, I found true peace. Yoga is a very selfish way of life, yet it doesn’t produce the results hoped for. Instead it is a lie and brings only destruction. How true are Christ’s words in MATTHEW 16:25 “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

So many try to “save their lives” (fill the void in their lives) through all sorts of things, including yoga, but the void will never be filled – they will end up losing their eternal soul.

We live only once, and while here in this life, we are to follow the example of Jesus Christ as presented in the Bible. When we die, "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" - 2 CORINTHIANS 5:10. Those who were born-again through receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit and by full submersion baptism, and who have given their lives in following Christ, may enter the eternal paradise of the soul where only love, joy and peace abide, in personal fellowship with Jesus Christ. The sinner and rebel against God will be removed from His presence after this judgment, and placed into a place of eternal torment.

...Do you want to follow Shiva ...who is also named the Destroyer - or Christ

You have to make a choice: Do you want to follow Shiva (who taught the “science” of Hatha Yoga) who is also named the Destroyer - or Christ, who came to heal and save, and who has proved by His life, death and resurrection that He is Lord and that He loves us without us having done anything to deserve it.

Yoga is not just a harmless physical exercise, it opens the door to demonic control. On which side do you ultimately want to stand? The devil’s or Christ’s? The consequences are more serious than you might realise.

JOHN 10:10 - "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

And how is this abundant life given by Jesus Christ?

JOHN 3:5 - "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

by William Downs, Newburgh, Scotland, Wednesday, April 21, 2010

1. One need only read the writing of E.A Wilder-Smith (The Cause and Cure of the Drug Epidemic and The Drug Users) or Charles T. Tart, 'The End of Materialism - How Evidence of the Paranormal is Bringing Science and Spirit Together or Altered States of Consciousness' to more clearly understand this relationship.

That the drug culture explosion in the 60's was very much a carefully controlled operation is not generally known. This statement itself may be the topic for hours of discussion and may unfortunately belong to the genre of "conspiracy theory" - however, most people who have any sort of interest in these topics are aware of the LSD experiments carried out by certain US Government agencies - starting in the 1950's with Project MKULTRA. (The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: The CIA and Mind Control, by John Marks, and also Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond, by Martin A. Lee)

2. Hatha Yoga basically describes any of the physical practices of yoga. Yoga has eight limbs, only one of which, asana, involves doing yoga poses. When you do lyengar, this is hatha yoga; when you do ashtanga, this is hatha yoga also. Therefore, “Hatha yoga” can be used interchangeably with simply “yoga”.

3. Watch for example the film “Gods of the New Age” which includes testimonies of yoga teachers who describe in detail that which I described above.

Other Testimonies About In Search of Truth

Comments

Thank u so much for this article. I did yoga for several yrs and felt strong and fit. LOVED IT! I thot i was jst doing physical exercise. Then i started having some strange experiences. I wrote a letter to my church family warning abt yoga and someone took it to the paper. From there it went to tv news and even into the states (i live in Canada) As upsetting as this “anti-yoga campaign” (as it was labelled) was and the hateful mail and comments calling me rediculous and uninformed and even hateful (!!??), I believe God will use my hurt for good and mayb a few Christians will look into it further and and stop doing it. U cannot separate the physical exercises fr the intent behind them. It annoys me when Christians give cutesy names to the poses or think if they recite bible verses while practicing yoga, they can somehow change the intent of yoga. Thank u SO MUCH for your loving and honest article!

Long post but please read-
6 years ago I was doing p90x And yoga was a part of the regimen
Over an hour faithfully once a week. For a couple of years. I was also a Christian telling myself but I’m not worshipping the Hindu gods. However during this time I started having CRAZY DEMONIC THOUGHTS ABOUT JESUS. at first I would ask myself what in the world? Where did that come from? They progressively got worse to the point I thought I was possessed and losing my mind. A lady at church told me about the dangers of yoga. I was still in denial. Still claiming but I’m a Christian!! The thoughts caused me to seek psychiatric help. MRIs because I thought I must have a brain tumor. Anti depressants anti anxiety anti psychotic meds. I almost admitted myself into a mental hospital. I didn’t eat for 3 weeks because the thoughts were driving me crazy.
After quitting yoga the thoughts continued for a couple years!! Because the door had been opened!!
I’ve still been asking God what in the world happened to me. But today the blinders have been removed
Praise God.

Thanks for helping me , I was considering yoga but after coming across this I'm not going to even attempt it. I am a Muslim, and I have to say it's lovely & comforting that a fellow Christian such as yourself has such a firm belief in God, and God has blessed you by giving you a way out and you have wrote this article and have helped many people. God bless you . I had a similar situation, but with my situation I took LSD (psychedelic) and suffered a very sinister trip. At the time of the trip, I did not know what was going on. But looking back at it after reading your article , I feel like I was being possessed by a dkeonic entity which wanted to use my body as a vessel and was trying to rewire my brain to make me go insane. I was so helpless , my heart was bearing at a ridiculous rate and I could not escape it, I genuinely believed I was mentally finished and contemplated suicide, until my mind clicked and I cried out to God and begged him to help me. All praise be to God I am still here and free from the demonic attack. Only and I mean ONLY God can save us from anything and everything . No military power in the world can stop these entities, nobody can except the true Creator: God.
Thanks again for this article , reading through the comments you have helped many people and put many people's minds at ease. As salaam u alaykum

Thank you William for your testimony and all who have posted comments. This has been very helpful
My mum was against yoga which I practised for about 4 years but I always thought the meditation side of it. Later I heard from the preacher (a Great man of God) Derek Prince that it is of occult origin but I still doubted thinking that it doesn't have that meaning in the West, which is indeed the great DECEPTION. I have given my life to God and staying steadfast in the word. I prayed and asked the Holy Spirit for revelation, wisdom etc and to lead not into temptation but deliver me from evil...also, for clarity on yoga.
Just recently, I was in a yoga class and as I was doing the poses Sun warrior, yoga pose etc it was like a great revelation came over me and I couldn't understand why this was not obvious before. I have renounced it and asked God's forgiveness and will never be doing anymore yoga.

Thankfully, we serve a merciful loving God. Also, I don't know how many are aware, but Easter, valentines day Christmas all these are pagan/occult origin that have been christianised by the Roman Catholic Church. All the information is available online.
We truly are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Draw near to God my people.

Thank you so, so much for sharing your experience with yoga-this reached me by God's grace in the nick of time. I have been a Christian for about 4 years and initially saw yoga as just a type of exercise, like swimming or weights, which my roommate introduced me to about 1.5 years ago. I never thought to consider what it really was or where it came from. I also came from a church that did not acknowledge spiritual realities, and did not know how they worked. This past year was very difficult and in my brokenness I began to do yoga more and more as a way to exercise to feel better, and relieve stress since I am not a natural runner or jogger, instead of being right with God. The yoga progressively sucked me and I began to try to do 30 ish minutes once a day- while trying to read my Bible and pray every day.
The last few weeks, I have had an increasing awareness that I was under some sort of demonic oppression-aware of it but unable to get out of it. I sensed some other Christian discerners begin interacting with me warily, like they sensed spiritual darkness. I have seen frightening images sometimes at night of demons. One was a bull-like image. After reading your testimony on a hunch I typed in "bull", "Hindu", and "shiva", and apparently a bull-like entity called Nandi is associated with Shiva as some sort of gatekeeper. Half-asleep and waking up I also once heard in my head two demons talking about me, as in third person, saying they could take over me because I was weak. I prayed fervently from the Word that whole day and night and the Lord provided an escape. That experience was a final warning for me that I was in deep to something bad. But I didn't know what, which was so disheartening, wondering if I was really a Christian or if I was fooled the entirety of my Christian life...reading this makes it all much clearer and I almost immediately prayed to the Lord and renounced yoga and will not ever have anything to do with it again. Right when I renounced it, I felt a pressure in my head lessen like a demon just left. I didn't feel fully recovered, but did feel lighter and more wholesome and…myself…than I have in a long time.
So thank you so much for sharing this. It has significantly helped me, as I am sure has helped others, and was a form of God's grace and provision. Only the power of Jesus can deliver and heal me. I never in a million years thought I would get involved in occult practice, but that’s what happened by thinking yoga was harmless physical activity. I am unsure how to heal and process from this whole thing, other than absolute certainty that I need Christ to deliver me. I think my biggest fear is that I was never a Christian to start with if I so easily got tricked, and once under, couldn’t work with the Holy Spirit to defy the demonic oppressions and presence in my head, feeling and being so dark-even starting to spill an evil presence in my interactions with others. I would welcome your input on this worry and insecurity about if this can happen to Christians who followed the Lord before yoga, spoken in truth with love, since I am not mature or stably experienced in viewing these realities.
Thanks again.

This happened to me too. I thought I was a Christian at the time, but I was not reading the bible regularly and of course yoga causes spiritual blindness- so once you are trapped it’s hard to see the reality. God allowed me to be struck by illness so that I called out to Him desperately. I heard what other Christians were saying about yoga so I asked the Lord if it was true. That night I was continually harassed by evil spirits. He lifted His hand of protection to reveal the truth. I was shocked at how I could be so deceived. I asked God to remove the veil from my eyes and show me where else in my life I was deceived. Boy did He reveal some stuff to me!! I would encourage you to do the same. Knowing how to fight off future attacks helps so much. Repent and plead the blood of Jesus over you. God has been merciful by calling you out of that deception. Clearly He has chosen you. I truly believe we are in the end times and now is the time to stay so close to Him. How amazing to be chosen by the Almighty! Stay encouraged and if you can, find a good church. There are so many false teachers out there so stay in the Word and ask for the gift of discernment and wisdom. Shalom!

I don't know where to start. They are pushing this in public education and by "Christian" psychologists upon Jewish and Christian children. I am so sickened. When I struggled with a difficult work environment and post partum, I trusted a "Christian" psychologist who prescribed yoga as a healthy alternative to anxiety or depression medication. I dutifully tried what they said only to have my life spiral into confusion and a real life crisis. It was only through serious prayer, penance and sacraments that I felt Jesus free me from serious darkness. I am totally at a loss for understanding how this can happen. The level of deception is disturbing and I feel very alone in coming to terms with the betrayal. I read some brief information about Carl Jung's work but why is there not more help from the church and pressure on the scientific community to be more honest? Thank you for being truthful about your experience. For me there is no doubt Jesus Christ can save. Why do we not question why our ancestors turned away from their occult practices? Why can't we learn from our history without repeating it so often?

Thank you for your comment on schools. I teach, and my school is starting a new behavior program to teach the kids how to deal with all their feelings, etc. In reading some of the curriculum, the first lesson teaches the Mountain Pose so I started research on this, which led me to this article. As a teacher I cannot do this and I do not feel right teaching my kids this but this will be a required program with our new principal this year. HELP LORD!!

Many thanks for this article and all the positive and negative comments that followed, ... all are right in their own mind. As for me I was about to attend a 2 day retreat to engage in Kundalini Awakening with a powerful Hindu Swami in attendance. I am a Reiki Master and there are aspects of that which also worry me after reading your article. That aside I have recently become involved with a Indian friends who are Hindu and who worship all the very many Hindu Gods and Yoga and I have found that since connecting with these friends, I have felt very uneasy and anxious, for they have been praying to their gods for me, and I had to ask them to stop. I could tell you so much but want to stick to the point. I thank you for this article. I believe that the words Kundalini Awakening sounds captivating and alluring, with a powerful ego attachment but thankfully your article has shown me it is not. I shall put a link to your page on my FB page and hope it saves many people from the dangers of Yoga Practices and its meditation. Sincerely, Wendy Tunnard.

It's interesting you mention Reiki... another practice now being offered in yoga classes... my background is, I practiced yoga for about 12 years. I grew up a strong Christian, and always felt I would never, could never, succumb to the spiritual aspects of yoga. However, as they say, even the roughest of hard rocks, will smooth and become smaller with constant flow of water. I ended up chanting, and even thinking perhaps the Hindu gods were Jesus' helpers. It was insane how deep I allowed myself to believe in such deception. Deception because they themselves, the teachers, the yoga teacher trainers, compared it to Christianity all the time, and made "modifications" to the core faith to fit their audience, who was mostly Christian...I was told the chants were simply thanking the founders of yoga. I was practicing Ashtanga. But I later learned I was invoking the gods, to "enter my space" which implies my soul space... I was a yoga teacher myself for 4 years, and loved it - I told myself I was helping people and would make it more a Christian. I never did. Seriously, a few years ago, I would've read this article and said, no, these people exaggerate, but now, I can see how a dangerous, slippery slope it can be. So back to Reiki. I had Reiki done on me, and I saw an "intuitive healer" (please, please, NEVER do this! She seemed a nice person, and I'm sure her intentions were good, but ignorance does not protect you from the enemy) and so I had some weird stuff happen where I questioned if I had opened some doors to the enemy. I consulted a friend who used to help in exorcisms and she was shocked at how I had allowed someone put (or float, same thing) their hands on me in the name of some universal energy who they do not claim to be Jesus, and opened spiritual channels that can inadvertently allow bad things to happen - both to the person being healed, and the Reiki master. She said that, when we lay hands according to the bible, it is always in the Name of Jesus, the Holy Spirit...Always, all in the name of: Jesus. So yes, I believe you have reason to pause and think... may the Holy Spirit guide you to the truth. In Christ's name, Amen.

When I started doing yoga for exercise purposes about 5 years ago, i came across this exact same article as my co-worker warned me as a Christian not to. Sadly I did not believe him or this helpful advice. I then went on to practice yoga now and again, increasing to everyday this year.

Over the last few months, I started feeling depressed and direction-less and fasted and prayed for a few days. While talking to my mother, she said I should close any doors to the occult I unintentionally opened. While praying, I asked the Holy Spirit for divine revelation and the words, Lord forgive me for kundalini" came out. I was surprised as I hadn't thought or read about that for years! Right now, I am on the verge of tears I am so grateful that the Lord has saved me from continuing to go down such an evil path. Thank you for sharing this.

I recently attended and International students yoga camp in Tumkur, India. As much as the asanas and breathing poses were relaxing and felt good in my body, I really felt that Yoga was more spiritual than just exercising. I can confirm that yoga is just a way of worshiping the millions of Hindu gods and goddesses and I shall never practice yoga again. When we asked questions, they did not answer us truthfully and they made sure we felt comfortable as international students. We climbed up a holy hill that is said to have more than 6000 thousand of 'saints' and they poured cold water from our heads down (I refused to participate in this), apparently to 'wash away' our problems. Many other things happened, and my conclusion is that yoga is not for Christians.

This is a great testimony and I can relate to a lot of your experiences. I practiced yoga on and off for a number of years and have also renounced it and turned to Jesus after my own life started to unravel. I'm still on the road to healing but I can see where God is giving me opportunities to restore me back into a healthy spiritual state.

I had the thought recently that it's actually such a relief that we don't have to do anything to be a Christian! With yoga we're a slave to our yoga practice but with Jesus all you have to do is accept the gift he's given you and yield to his will. I will be meditating on that.

Thanks for posting your testimony, hopefully more people can realise the dangers of yoga before it's too late for them.

My daughter is a freshman at a Mid-American University. She has been introduced to yoga. Claims she has read all the stuff but is not willing to read this. Point is this, while we sleep spiritually our adversary is reaching students using an educational institution whose purpose should be to lead students in a life of holiness, serving the Lord. It would be easy to judge those accountable as corrupt. But I think the issue is blindness and therefore ask that anyone with the means to help, those accountable at said institution. I will do what I can. May God bless!

I remember over a decade ago experiencing the white screen. With no training or leadership in meditation, I had started a breathing exercise before bed. I would lay on my back and and take slow deep breaths. This helped me ease into sleep better.

Several minutes in, what was dark turned all white. I can see how some my be deceived just from the dark/light reference. Well, it freaked me out and jolted me to open my eyes. I kept breathing after that BUT never saw anything like that again. I was a child of God then...still am. Ignorance may have evil knocking, but Christ in you won't allow you to answer.

The saddest part is that many exercises taught in any gym or video are yoga poses used for fitness
And they use different names to deceive people
If the cobra pose is obvious other warm up stretches aren't. I've done yoga through ways like these without ever attending a yoga class. Shameful I have to check online every pose to know what a gym coach is teaching me sadly yoga is hidden everywhere even without attending classes or participating in the spiritual part.Do you imagine an exercise for your abs is actually a yoga pose etc... Sad our world is a sad place. I can think of walking,running and cycling as the only decent exercises to maintain or lose weight the origin of every single exercise is yoga that made me angry and disturbed for a while. I always thought I was far away from yoga but I found myself doing exercises like an innocent lamb, only when I got suspicious did I know that many were yoga which os also the origin of pilates.

"The Cobra Pose'. How very interesting, that a pose is named after one of satan's manifestations. Only willful blindness can miss that significance. But that this is being offered in churches leads me to think of the 'woe unto the pastors, which scatter and harm the flock'.. of Jeremiah 23.
Victoria

Hi there! My children attend a Christian school and have recently been doing yoga (but only for "stretching excersices") apparently there is no "Yoga words, names, or terminology" just to get the kids to stretch and relax..... I feel this is just as wrong, but what would you say to this? Thank you in advance!!

This all really depends on what they are teaching. If they ARE teaching the Asanas as the positions are known in yoga, I would be questioning as to the reason why? I personally think that this would perhaps be a subtle introduction to the actual practise.

There are so many sports available for children, and children in general tend to be naturally flexible, which is why I would be asking my children to show me what they are learning and comparing it to the asanas. If they are indeed yogic positions, I would be asking their teacher the reasons behnd this.

Of course, these are my personal thoughts on the matter - with such scriptures in mind as:

1 Thessalonians 5:21, Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.22, Abstain from all appearance of evil.

Some may say that I am too legalistic, but I would say I simply want to please the Lord and playing with other religions is hardly showing Him my loyalty.

Hope that makes sense, please feel free to write again if you think what I have written is wrong,

There remains one question: what will you reccomend to teachers in kindergartens and schools? I mean what kind of exercise will you reccomend? Almost every school offers yoga-exersices for children :-( I know that they don´t bother the children with Hindu religion and they just "play on animals" like snake, cat etc. But there is a big danger: if I let my children practise yoga-exercises without telling them truth and if I don´show them spiritualy harmless exercise, they will learn that yoga is OK, harmless and good for stretching.

Tomorrow me and my husband go to kindergarten and will discuss this topic with teachers. I just don´t want to talk about wrong aspects of yoga...I would love to offer solution, some harmless alternative.

It would be a good idea to watch the film, "Wide is the Gate' featuring interviews of the late Caryl Matrisciana on the topic of the Yoga / Hindu connection. But be aware, this introduction to the occult, and occultic religions, is typically subtle. Int he case of Yoga for children, it will be couched as beneficial; because everything the former angel of light (satan) offers always looks like an apple. The outcome is never beneficial. All his paths lead downwards.

After reading a New York Post article today (3/17/17) about a 90 year old woman in India still doing yoga and teaching it to kids, it reminded me of when I tried it years ago watching it on TV. Each time I did only a few poses I felt ill afterwards, and eventually stopped and have never done it again. As a Christian I later found out that each pose honors a Hindu diety, and have continued to tell others this. Your article was even more enlightening, and frightening..thank you very much!

Many thanks indeed for visiting this page and for your kind words. It is expecially interesting to read that you felt ill when practising the poses - and uplifting to read that you found Christ who set you free and gives a peace that passeth understanding,

Thank you for share this. I used to do yoga years ago, and my Mather also told me that I shouldn't do it. But I did it anyway. After some episodes in my life when I connected with God again I asked him to forgiveness, and one of the things that I said was to forgive me for have been doing yoga in the past,I don't know why I said that, it was like God made me realize that have been doing yoga was something wrong. And I remember no doing the chant at that time because it didn't feel well. Now my quiestion is, it is Pilates the same as yoga?

so wonderful to read that the Lord protected you from jumping into Yoga in any big way. Your question is interesting indeed - "is Pilates the same as yoga?"

I cannot answer that with anything definite. Pilates may in some ways be derived from yoga. The inventor, Joseph Pilates, himself studied yoga and he did write about his desire to unify it into a new system.

I do not have enough knowledge to write anything on this subject - but I myself am very wary of anything that even remotely smells of Yoga. I have to admit that Pilates does appear to be more of an exercise than anything else, however I want so little to do with the ways of this world which will soon be brought to nothing that I think I need to ignore Pilates also.

Please Help!! My friend is really being deceived about Yoga she just recently got into Holy Yoga and will be starting to teach it!
If you can, please send me an article regarding Holy Yoga and why it's not from God.

Many thanks for visiting my page - I know of no specific books or web sites didecated to Holy Yoga per se, but I think that there is enough information within this article itself to show that Yoga cannot be connected to Christ - as yoga is a focus on the self and a follower of Christ needs to focus on serving others.

This link is surely sufficient to start a conversation with. There are many other web sites that also offer information -

Thank you very much for this article.I used to practice a bit of yoga,for me it was more like some random streches and some yoga poses mixed up.I was doing this while listening to some "meditation" music.I indeed had some "spiritual" experiences,feeling like being asleep or feeling like your body is not touching the ground and a weird "pressure" in my head(it was pleasant).I stopped yoga just by lack of time.I'm a Christian now and today I just realised what I was doing back then with these yoga poses etc.Thank you foe sharing your testimony.May God bless you brother!

I am so glad to read that you turned to Christ and that He has cared for you all this time. Sincere thanks for taking the time to write and for expressing your appreciation of this page - which I put together from books and web pages (as also my own terrible experience which Christ turned to wonderful good)

I used to do hatha yoga. I started feeling weird about it when the video instructors started talking about weird things. I did some research and stopped. Later on I started again with the idea that I was just stretching and a while later I had a demonic attack dream involving yoga. I was so scared. I took it as a warning. No yoga for me thanks. Now I do Pilates without any sort of yoga influence.

I stopped it due to convictions and then picked it up again thinking I could just do it as exercise. The day I did it again, I again felt convicted and renounced it. I renounced it on social media. That night I had a demonic attack as I slept. I prayed the blood of Jesus to cover and set me free and the attack stopped. I think that I angered whatever it was with me renouncing it also on social media...

I wrote this page almost 7 years ago. I can no longer remember all the sources, and there were a few books, web pages etc. Some of the pages or books where I got information actually spoke in favour of yoga, so I would not have retained these sources in any case, and some were not fit reading at all. Some of the web pages also do no longer exist.

Most of the responses to this page fall into 1 of 2 categories:

1) From Christians - Many thanks for this info, it helped me decide.

2) From non-Christians who do yoga - Don't be so narrow minded.

If you feel that some part of the information contained therein is wrong, please write and tell me, I would be happy to correct something if it was found to be wrong.

Hello William,
Thank you so much for sharing this.
I cannot tell you how grateful I am for this information.
On hunch I did a search for "kundalini yoga invites spirits".
I will tell you why in a moment. But first I wanted to ask you,

Do you think someone that has awakened kundalini and is experiencing communication or control from spirits can be restored with an exorcism? Or something similar to that?

I am asking because
my brother has been ill with supposedly schizophrenia for many years now.
I remembered right before he went totally off the deep end he had been talking about kundalini yoga and that he had experienced awakening! He said it felt like a strong electric current up his spine and an explosion in his head! After that he began to have illusions of a reptile demon on his back. He swore he could see it. And then he started talking all the time about some spirits he named. One he called Hera. He said she was from heaven but I think he may have been wrong. Hera would control him and tell him to do and not do things. He talked with her non stop and also about the demon. Of course we took him to the doctor and of course the doctors said he was schizophrenic and it was just genetic and nothing we could do.

For all these years the doctors have simply kept him on medication to keep him under control.
But no anti-psychotic medication has worked on him.
He goes around all day talking to all these entities in his head.
It is so sad and frustrating. Well, really tragic. My brother is alive but is like he is the walking dead. He hasn't spoken to me in years, even when I am right in front of him.
I miss him so much and have tried everything I can to help him.

A lightbulb went off in my head when I was watching a documentary show about
about hauntings and communication from spirits due people dabbling in different things like oiuja boards or things of that sort. It told stories of people that had opened the door to demonic entities and how their behavior completely changed. They became dark and depressed and down right mean, in short, very unlike their former selves. It turns out they had been possesed. I then remembered my brother fell into a great depression and also talked about crazy stuff like killing my other brother!! He would just be talking out loud to these entities answering them as if they were in the room. So I wondered.... maybe all this kundalini stuff had something to do with what happened to him. And now I see maybe he opened the door to being controlled by evil entities.

What are your thoughts? Should I try to find a priest that can help? Or who would you suggest I look for? In the tv show, they mentioned demonologists. I am afraid to open the door to more satanic entities if I do the wrong thing. Thank you so much. I do hope to hear from you soon.

Hello Claudette, My heart went out to you and your brother when I read your letter. I'll start by saying that your brother CAN be delivered. Whether it will be a minister who believes the scriptures, and practices the healing and deliverance examples that Jesus Christ left us with, or if it will be the Lord himself who heals your brother, it doesn't matter. It can be done. To briefly introduce myself, I am a 60 year old woman living upstate New York, with my 18 year old son (I had him at 42 years of age) and his 57 year old dad. Our medical philosophy is this: We go to God first for anything that ails us, and if He can't help us, we go to a doctor. In the last 12 years my son has not been sick a day, his dad was delivered from deaths door by a minister in 2006 and hasn't been sick since, and in 30 years I have not had to go to a doctor. I am in perfect health with no ailments whatsoever. But what drew me to you was the fact that the last ailment I ever had which I was delivered from was Scoliosis. A demon living inside my spine. I suffered with curvature of my spine for 7 years. It was so painful it got to where I could no longer raise my right leg off of the ground. I had to put my pants on the floor to climb into them. Perhaps I'll have the chance to tell you the details, but shortly speaking, in 2006 I went to a healing meeting at a church and came home totally delivered. But NO ONE laid a hand on me or prayed for me! It was Matthew 5:1 all over again! I got up at 5 am and drove 3 hours to get to the healing meeting in Staunton VA. I say it was as climbing the mountain of Matthew 5:1 because I made the effort and the Lord met me there! When the demon of scoliosis left, my back straightened in an instant! I have never had a problem with my back since, and my work calls for me to carry 70 lb buckets of Venetian Plaster. (I'm an artist) and I do easily! In my 40 years of walking with the Lord, not only has the Lord healed me in many different ways, of many different things, to where I now stand before you totally whole, he also taught me a great deal about healing, and introduced me to men of God who KNOW how to heal and deliver according to the scriptures. People who are willing to climb that mountain and seek his help, always get their deliverance. Just never give up! God bless you marvelously in Christ!

Many thanks indeed for using this website and for taking such an interest in my testimony. And especially a thank you for being so careful.

[quote]Do you think someone that has awakened kundalini and is experiencing communication or control from spirits can be restored with an exorcism? Or something similar to that?[/quote]

The Bible does not speak about exorcisms as they are portrayed in Hollywood. The Bible describes a simple "casting out", usually with the affected person turning to the Lord; I was not "possessed" but was very much "oppressed" - this is what I needed. I have seen one person who was possessed be set free and turn to Christ; I understand that to be the onoy proper way.

I would not get any priest involved. Time and space to not permit a reason why; that can be made clear if needed.

The only person I would trust with such a serious subject is someone with the authority of Christ, in this case a spirit -filled Christian, someone who has been born again and has received the gift of the Holy Spirit as described in the Book of Acts, and who is spoken about by our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospels.

John 14:16, And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

John 14:26, But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Somepne needs to lay hands on him, someone who knows what they are doing; not somoene who just wants to try it out, and not someone who needs an ego boost either, but only someone who loves the Lord and loves others.

Your brother will need to turn to the Lord Jesus though, with all his heart.

I will drop you a private message; perhaps we can be of some assistance here, but this conversation is best taken offline I think,

I came across this message as I was trying to know if the meditation stuff of yoga is spiritual coz I was kind of uncomfortable with this practice. Am a Ugandan, recently a Danish yoga teacher visited the country and she started the yoga a yoga class in a certain school and now after finding all this out am touched becoz these are young innocent souls that the devil is aiming at. Am grateful William for the message I know this was God's mercy love and grace I saw this, according Luke 10:19 I will stand against this for this for the reason we are called to spread the good news of eternal life against the cosmic powers of the dark age. May the good Lord bless his work in u. thanks

Hi there,
many thanks for letting me know that this was helpful -
yes, some Yoga teachers aim for the children - which is indeed a sad thing. The blind leading those who have not yet been given a chance to see ... This is now so common in schools. The school administration will be held to account unless they also repent of their interest in occult or new age practices. The Lord Jesus spoke some strong words against those who would corrupt children:
Mark 9: 42, And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
Greetings - will hopefully see you one day when the trumpet sounds ...
Sincerely, in Chris, William

Wonderful article with details William.
I am originally from India(now based in US) , and I know people in the West are fantasized my mystical eastern religion without knowing the details behind them. Slowly these evils creep into their lives through things that seem harmless.

Hope many of those people could read this. I will publish an excerpt of this article in BibleTimes.com if you are OK with that
Thanks

The content of the of this article is available elsewhere online and can be found in books. All I did was put it together. My personal experience is also not unique to myself - many other souls have had similar terrifying experiences.

By all means copy parts of it if you think it will be helpful. I know of one website who copied it completely and added it to their own web-site (which really made me laugh)

Dear God, thank you for granting William the Godly-wisdom to write this informative article. I am Christian; and have been practicing yoga for the past 6 years; I achieved weightloss goals & my sleep pattern adjustments which overpowered my insomnia.
A friend of mine constantly warned me about the yoga practice; she said it was not in line with Christianity. I sat down with this friend last night; and once again my yoga practice came up in our conversation; so I decided to conduct some research.

Lately I have grown so much closer to God... I was baptized a year ago; and have recently quit smoking. Going forward I will destroy all my yoga books, audio discs and videos; and may the good Lord forgive me for sharing such materials with anybody else in my past. I am unable to turn back the hands of time to reverse my actions, but going forward I will make sure to spread the word about the spiritual dangers of yoga practice.

Victory is mine, the battle is the Lords; and the devil is surely defeated.

God is good.

and may He (God) bless everyone reading this articles; i urge all fellow Christians to spread the good news about Jesus daily. The little that we do, is bound to help save a number of souls.

Prayer changes everything; and every word spoken in prayer is never spoken in vain.
In the name of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen

Hi though am not Christian I thank you for sharing the effects of practising it as I was drawn in to practising yoga more importantly than praying. I was told a true fact about a woman who was possessed by a demon when she did certain yoga poses she would suddenly see her dead child and other unpleasant things and sounds after doing yoga and would end up doing dangerous difficult poses as a beginner and at a point she had to be exorcised. I didn't much believe that the yoga could be the pissible connection to something so sinister but after reading about your experience and dark side to yoga, I am glad I had not taken this further into consideration. As when I did a pose today just for weight loss I instantly felt uncomfortable rather than feeeling improvement. And have no intention of doing it again. Thank you

Hi there
Thank you for sharing your experience; what you have written may very well help save another soul from the dangers of yoga.
Although you say you are not Christian, I strongly believe that feeling of discomfort was a warning alarm from the Holy Spirit; and I thank God for saving you from further exposure; after all God is definitely for us all.
take care, and God bless you.

I'm deeply humbled by your comment. The information in this article can be found throughout the web and in many book stores also. I only invested a few days in researching and putting together what I thought were the most pertinent points. The terrible experiance I had has also been experienced by countless others.

Nonetheless I thank you grealty for your kind comments and your intention to spread the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (a gospel which also contains freedom from evil bondage such as yoga)

Thank you Brother!You have revealed the truth !So far I have been thinking that Yoga does no harm especially to those who born again!But I got shocked while reading this article.Hereafter I will exchange the ideas to the friends of mine.

many thanks for your comment and ofr taking the time to read through the article. This truth is available in many forms - books, internet pages, documentaries etc. All I did was stick some together with my own terrible experiance.

Superb article ...
I believe u...
wen i performed yoga..tears flowed down my eyes n i was shaken to hell..
Yoga is demonic..then i went to blessed.sacrament n got this msg...
U cannot drink from the cup of Jesus &serve demons at the same time 1Corinthians 6:7

Thanks brother for sharing your salvation. your journey of darkness into the light.
I have also very similar experience practiced more that 12 years and experienced what you have explained. I also lost my life become very selfish and moved into extreme unholiest of life. But thank you Jesus, for saving my life. My wife really prayed for my salvation.

I also left yoga and followed JESUS. Now I could feel the difference between darkness and light, unholiest to holiness. Jesus leads to holy and makes our life blessing to many people. Thank you brother for sharing your experience.

Dear Bro,
Thank you so much for your valuable experience you have written about, here in India the govt is pushing yoga in a big way in schools and everyday life, several Christians are also involved in it, do pray for the lie of satan to be exposed, and God's people are set free. regards Premjeet Titus, chandigarh, India

many thanks for reading this article. I would also like to do an article on Martial Arts - discovering much later on that they are also actually partially derived from the Yoga ideas. I did do an intensive study on them for a number of years also, and time permitting I would put pen to paper so to speak and put my ideas out there.

I don't practice yoga, but I do practice advanced calisthenics, aka "Street workout". There is some carryover between yoga, but can you tell me specifically which poses are dangerous? With calisthenics the focus is not on meditation really, but it is on developing high relative strength and coordination. I want to ensure that exercises like handstand push ups, body Levers (such as the human flag, front lever, and planche), and one arm pull ups are not in some way demonic.

Thank you so much for this article!!! This morning, I came across a post on Facebook and it was about why a "Christian should not practice yoga". I thought I was delusional in thinking that yoga was a form of spiritual exercises relating to the deities and when I did some research, I realised I wasn't delusional! Then I came across your article and found more truths about yoga. I actually tried it a few times , I just sat on either the floor or bed with my legs crossed and tried to close my eyes and prevent myself from stressing and I found that it didn't take me anywhere because my life is in Christ and His life is in mine and I've been prevented from engaging with yoga by falling asleep or just being lazy to stretch my muscles. I knew it was God that did that so that I might not engage in any form of spiritual practices. Sleeping and lazying around is something I enjoy doing when I'm tired of studying or when I have spare time and maybe God used that to get me away from yoga. Some sort of protection. After reading your article and another article from Corinna Craft, I repented again and asked God to forgive me and release me from my sin. Attempting it was a sin for me and now I'm reassured that yoga is wrong. I'm an Indian from SA. I was born in a Christian home but surrounded by hindu's who practice these things. In high-school, I had a teacher who used to teach us Life Orientation and she used to make us meditate and it wasn't a part of our syllabus so I used to close my eyes and she used to say that we must hug ourselves and look for the sun. I honestly used to think that it was utter nonsense and I used to laugh about it. If I could turn back time, I would have told my teacher not to make us do the meditation because other kids may have been influenced by it.

Anyway, I'm going to try and use your article and some other articles to open the eyes of people who are completely blinded by everything that the world offers.

Thank you once again! Your article has really been inspiring and educational, especially as a Christian.

Thank you for this article.
My husband has become a yoga instructor. At first, he said it was just for exercise. Sadly, he has become deeper involved. This, among other things, has driven us apart.
Before I did research, I tried yoga and never liked it. I believe this was the Holy Spirit preventing me from liking it.
My husband is Indian and raised Hindu, so I understand how it would be easy for him to revert back to yoga.
I am really concerned for him!
Please help me pray for him.

Thank you for this informative and insightful post! I came upon it while searching for help in explaining the evil behind, what appears to the uninformed, a healthy and beneficial way of life. The sharing of your personal experience really drives home the seriousness of this issue. Even the negative comments, which you graciously allow, shows the lack of any proof for the opposition's argument. Instead, those comments focus on personal attacks, which one expects from those who follow anything demonic in origin. Even those "spiritual beings" that you experienced could not contain their anger for long. This has always been one of the hallmarks of evil.
Thanks again for your good work and God bless!

Thank you so much for your article. I am a 58 year old woman and have been a Christian for 40 years and when I committed my life to Christ at age 18, I had to renounce some stuff. Since then, I have been careful not to get entangled with things that might invite demonic activity.

This has not really become an issue for me, until recently. I was diagnosed with Osteoporosis and my doctor wanted to put me on medications to prevent fractures. I did not want to do this because these medications have serious side effects : you can break your jaw, you can break your thigh bone and you can get cancer of the esophagus.

So, I was looking for natural ways to gain bone. I changed my diet, increased the vitamins I was taking and then I was looking for exercise that would increase bone.

Many other people that are going this natural route are doing Yoga. When I first heard that Yoga was the best exercise for bones, I thought, "Isn't Yoga connected with Hinduism?" I did not know anything beyond that. A friend of mine goes to a "Christian" yoga class and invited me. I have tried to go several times and each time I was prevented.(I think I was prevented by the Holy Spirit.) I have been researching Yoga and weight bearing exercise on the Internet and every time I would pull up another article on the benefits of it, that still small voice would say, "You still need to research the spiritual aspects." So, I have been googling about whether Christians should do Yoga. There are all kinds of views. Many people say they play Christian music and do Yoga or pray to Jesus and do Yoga.

But, I wanted to know spiritually what was going on when you did the body positions. And your article answered my questions. I guess I have just been really uneducated, but I did not know that the Yoga positions were actually worship positions and that people were worshiping idols (or demons). And since that is what is going on, you can, innocently, open yourself up to demons.

I have experienced spiritual attacks in the past, mostly in the form of bad dreams. I had several bad dreams recently and wondered why. Now, I think it is because I have been thinking of doing Yoga and trying to "Christianize" it.

I now know that I need to find another form of exercise for my bones. Weight bearing and balance can be done without Yoga and that is now my goal.

I do not believe that God would keep me from being healthy. So, He is able to help me to get the exercise I need in order to have healthy bones.

Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Thank you for your insights. They have helped me to make a sound, godly decision.

Many thanks for both sharing your story and also for your kind words of support. They mean a lot.

I try to be fair in approving comments (for I wrote the article and can also do the approval on comments) - I do not automatically block a comment purely on it's disagreeing with me. However, if it contains rudeness or simple attacking, then I do not see the point in approving it.

I can only say "amen" to what you wrote above, as well as "well done" to your listening the the "wee small voice" that instructed you to check out the spiritual side of yoga. My article can be gleaned from many different sources on the wbe and in books. My personal experiance was terryfying in the extreme. If any of it helps then Glory to God in the highest, who has allowed such thngs to be published.

I am also no spring chicken now, so I swim almost every day. It reduces the weight on my ankles and hips so I can do simple leg stretching exercises between pool lengths. Helps my back also.

Take care, Christ is returning soon, let us be found in Him, full of His Word the Holy Bible and full of His Spirit.

Hello! My name is Kennedy, I'm 17 and I feel blessed to have come across this. Before I read this article, I read things from another website which also mentions this sort of thing and I can't believe I've been so blind. Also I actively want to follow Jesus and grow in Him. I haven't been baptised yet but I do plan to!

I do have a question though. Since we can't do yoga because it makes us vulnerable to....you know. What else can we do that can help our bodies? Do you know of any other things? I never have practiced Yoga religiously and same with meditation. (I haven't done much of it all really.. like if I were to gauge a percentage on how much I've done it in my life time or at least tried, it'd be 2-5%) I don't know, I've always felt strange about meditation and not in a good way. As if I suspected it of something, like how you have a bad hunch about something? That's what I felt, but I couldn't put my finger on it. So I guess that must have been the Holy Spirit or Jesus/God trying to tell me, "HEY, *Sirens sounding* WATCH OUT, WATCH OUT." Currently, I'm very unflexible and don't really want to stay this way as it feels sort of unhealthy in a way? I don't know. Especially since I have scoliosis (been diagnosed a year or two or three ago) and it's very important for me to keep my spine in the best possible shape I can. Is there any other ways or stretches to do other than yoga so I can still be in good health in a physical aspect?

And boy, what you mentioned about how some people can be so much as drawn to SUICIDE? Oi, that's intense, really scary. Don't want to be apart of anything that causes such things as you've mentioned. Don't worry, I haven't even TOUCHED Ouiji boards, tarot cards, or the like and do not plan to for the rest of my life. ....Oh! I forgot what I was going to say other than that!! xD Argh, oh well..

Other than that, thank you for this informative article and I hope to hear from you soon!

many thanks indeed for your kind words and interest. It does sound like you had a close call.

You asked about exercises for your back? ) Well, I go swimming and interspace each length with some gentle stretching whilst in the pool. It's easier to do this for me when still in the pool as I don't have my body weight to deal with. But I am not a doctor or any sort of proffesional concerning exercises, so it would be better to speak to a consultant of some time if you really have problems.

I attended some exercise classes later on in life, and within a few days the teacher suddenly introduced the cobra, greeting the sun and ... I immediately left the room. When they asked me as to why I had left the room and I explained about the poses, they tried to say that it was not yoga ... I left immediately.

So, best find out from a proffesional - and if he starts with any mention of yoga, you know it's the wrong person.

Exercise in itself is fine, just ensure that it is not connected to any false gods.

Very narrow minded article. please read up on the lives of Christian Mystics(such as Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila)who share similar experiences with Hindu Yogis, Sufi Mystics.As the Vedas declare, " Truth is one but the wise call it by various names". Please don't attack Yoga and Vedanta because of their practices but instead study and compare healthily their philosophies which are highly logical. Please don't be blind followers. Reason out your beliefs with the logic and intelligence God has given you.

Hello there. I am a 60 year old Irish woman and I have been practising yoga for 25 years. Teaching yoga for 15 years. I can only say that I am mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually stronger and more awake than I have ever been in my life.I am also a Christian and my faith in Christ has never faltered. The negative comments on this site from 'Christians' just make me laugh. You neither seem to understand Christianity nor Hinduism nor Yoga!!!!!You are very obviously Americans - asleep. Time has come to waken up.Central America has the highest rate of anti-depressant use in the world.It would appear that some evil is succeeding in making you all mindless!Maybe you need to take a look within yourselves. Will keep you in my prayers!
Blessings and kindness.

Dear Anonymous,
I would urge you to take the matter directly to God in prayer by meditating on His word for your eternal soul depends upon it. Many people call themselves Christian but the word of God is not in them. Many Christians call themselves the light and the salt of the earth but are still living with darkness in them. They love the sin and idolatry, but the truth is that sin will lead anyone to perish. Did God not say in his word that “because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth”. Let me remind you that while you are still alive in this physical world you still have a chance of saving your soul. Your children and your family from the pit of hell that the devil is dragging the children of disobedience to at this very moment. Do not be fooled God cannot be mocked no is he a man that he shall lie.

One day you will wake up and be thankful that you posted an article on this site. Now is not the time to sleep, now is not the time to be lazy, now is not the time to mock. Did the Lord not say in his word that “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left”? I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left? Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding oat at the mill; one will be taken and one left”. Did he not say in his word, No gathering up the tares (children of disobedience), you may uproot the wheat (true Christians) with them. “Let both grow together until the harvest (judgment). At the proper time I will tell the harvesters (angels), "First collect the weeds (children of disobedience), and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat (true Christians) into my barn." Let me tell you that the harvest is coming very soon, please do not let yourselves be catch up unaware by then it will be too late.

I pray in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ that every veil upon your eyes are ripped opened, so that you can see the gospel of the Lord which is the Glory of God. In this life there are many trials, the Devil goes around seeking whom he can devour. Give him no ground and he will flee from you. Jesus promised us the spirit of Truth. "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father--the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father--he will testify about me”. Give your life to Jesus Christ and be led by the Holy Ghost. The only voice of God that you should listen to within your spirit not other gods, let me break some of it down; demons also known as fallen angels, spirit of new age religions, spirit of Islam, spirit guides. Test every spirit that claim to be from God. Paul show us how in the book of Ephesians. Read it and be familiar with the amour of God and the word of God so that you cannot be deceived.

The grace of the Lord and the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and forever.

I am NOT American (not sure where you get that from), I am Scottish by birth and have spent most of my life living in different European or Asian countries. Saying that - I would love to visit America - I love Americans, love their character and intensity of spirit, but due to my earlier brushes with the police, I am not allowed to enter their country (but Christ forgave me and allows me into His country and it is only His country that matters) - you attacking Americans en-masse is a rather strange thing for a Christian to do -

Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

Proverbs 24:23 These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment.

However, Mathew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

I am saddened at some of your comments - you "laugh" at me because my understanding is different from yours? Is mocking a person for having a different understanding than yours not the antithesis of being open-minded?)

You say that I have no understanding of Christianity or Hinduism or Yoga, although my writings fully agree with a host of other Christian writings that can be found on the Internet or in Christian bookshops (by which I mean that I am not alone in my understanding by any means)

Of course, practising Yoga (or any other occultic practice) is heavily forbidden and leads to spiritual blindness, so my warnings in this page often do fall on deaf ears (unless the Lord Jesus grants repentance and and understanding)

1 John 2: 11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

Some further seeking on this matter will help you to see the truths - there are a host of web pages dedicated to proclaiming these truths, as well as a host of books. However, THE Book, God's Word, the Bible, is full of warnings against practicing other religions. It describes in detail the purity of a Christian life. It also describes those doctrines of demons which will be prevelant in the end times, doctrines of demons. Yoga and the other mystic practices are surely included in these doctrines of demons.

My page on Yoga stemmed form the experiance of the horrors and Kundalini awakening, from meeting demons disguised as spiritual beings. The learning came later. When I received the Holy Spirit, and was set free from the demonic influences (demonic influences that were brought about by Yoga) the Bible became real to me, and I believe that this the also the experiance of many people who have found Christ after practicing satanic activities, and indulging in sin.

So if we are not ment to fare the spirit world while we are alive why is it that we dream in our sleep. If you listen closely you can hear the humm of consciousness. As you go to bed your existance vibrates differently and you experience the altered state. Ive just been doing yoga for a couple weeks now and have been interested in all things religion science new age and all that. Only because i like to think for myself and listen to my own conclusions on the matter. There is only one earth and all of these ideas have sprung from it. There is also a spirit world and it is inhabited. But if these things exist and we experience them we are a part of them. I love jusus and i simply love love. I never hurt anyone and i try not to judge anyone. The thing ive learned about yoga is this. The stretches open the chackras and within them you chant the power of hindu dieties and elements to change your etheral or energy body to your desired state. I learned that yesterday and ive been going back and forth from christianity to agnostic and back to understanding the magick of yoga. Which lets face it is really what all things metaphysical are. Its chaos magick. You create an abstract thought and the energy which is what thought is changes how you act and think so desired effects occur. All of the christian teachings are the same. There is truth and its the same one that trees know the same one that birds and monkies know. Its that there is only this moment this experience and whatever you are you learn and grow from it. The one thing i know is that i dont want to embed gods into my chackras and i dont want to follow blindly into anything.

Dreams, whether given by the Lord or from whatever other source, are mainly outside of our control. The Bible does suggest that the Lord sometimes warns us in dreams, He sometimes confirms what we already think (in order to provide a catylist to perform something) Scriptures about dreaming abound: (for example Genesis 37:5-8, Acts 2:17 and especially in: Job 33: 14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;
16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,

Many more examples of dreams in scripture can be found.

If you love Jesus Christ, the "the author and finisher of our faith" - and you know His Word, then you will know that in the New Testament, He cast demons out, He did not invite them, whihc is what Yoga does. He also gave his disciples power and authority over evil spirits, to the end that mankind should be free (Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.)

Yoga is a great deception, leading those who partake of it down a very dark road indeed, one which only leads to an eternity in hell. For many this will only be made clear at the point of death when the veil is pulled back and they are then shown that the spirits they danced with in Yoga are in reality demons who are bent on the destruction of the human soul.

Jesus Christ died for us and sent the Holy Spirit to come and live in us so that we might be free of these deceptions and so that we could become one with Him. Yoga teaches you to become one with the world around you - but again the Word of God says in 1 John2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Your sad devotion to the ancient zombie on a stick religion is repugnant. Your condemnation of anyone and anything that does not fit into your narrow and dim view galls me and most any other intelligent individuals. How you can profess to be devoted to and live for a religion that slaughtered millions in "God's name" if your God was really loving and all that, dont you think he would have put a stop to the wanton and wholesale slaughter in "His" name? if for no other reason than to say "Hey, I didnt ok this, this is not my will, dont be mislead by these assholes who say that I wanted this."

thank you - there are many pathways to God. I am a Christian, but I feel that I am not practicing evil by practicing yoga. Christians should not judge - as we have no way to truly know if those things others practice (as long as not overtly evil) is not just another way to God. Plenty to say about judging others in the Bible.

There is only one pathway to God, and that is through Jesus. John 3:3 "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life." The very first commandment is Thou shalt have no other gods but me. I think God has been very clear, as always. "My people shall perish from lack of knowledge". Know your bible, it will literally save your soul.

There is indeed much to say about judging others in the Word of God, spoken by Jesus Christ:
Matthew 7
1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

The scriptures concerning judging do not refer to making a distinction between right and wrong according to the Word of God. The well know scripture quoted above is concerned with the hearts attitude, not the complete vacancy of any and all judgment, otherwise the ten commandments would be invalid, as would the entire preachings of Christ.

Jesus fully forbids the type of judgment that is used to make oneself seem "holier" than the person being being warned. Pointing out that some attitudes or practices are simply wrong and saying that continuing in such practices will lead to eternal damnation is not judging. It is stating exactly that which the Lord in many places clearly says.

What Christ expects us to do is wrteen here:

John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

If the telling of someone that what they are doing is wrong is done for any other reason than love for the persons soul and love for Christ, there will be something wrong in it.
But if a person judges themselves fully and walks in love then they should be warning others of what is wrong.

Something not "feeling evil" does not in itself mean that it is not evil. "Feeling" may be right to you, but that does not make it right to the Lord. In that respect I have to compare yoga to fornication ... it may feel good, but will lead to disastrous consequences, which may only become apparent when we enter into the afterlife.

Atrocities have been committed in the Name of Christ, although Christ would never have condoned it. I know from the Bible that Christ Jesus would have wept at this...He will not turn a blind eye to people who have killed in His Name. His words were only of love and forgivness.

He did tell people to repent and to stop sinning, but would never force anyine to.

You really need to have a good read at the Bible, especially the New Testament (which describes the life of Christ) - you would see the truth of this.

We mustt all face God the Father on the day of Judgement and give account of what we have done in this life.

Jesus christ said these things about meditation & the light, 1st john,1,5; This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
luke 17,21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you
Matthew 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

and this one is a big warning for liers to stop lying
luke11,52 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.”
matt23;13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Very nice posts and really appreciate all the comments. Here is my situation. My girlfriend is involved in yoga and I did not have a problem until we started getting closer and more serious. After we did get closer the yoga felt like it was pushing us apart. Her own friends made comments they thought she was too deep into yoga. Those comments were made to her even before I was in the picture. She told me of the comments. I told her from what I see that yoga is teaching self and the bible is teaching others first. This has been how I felt and I take my faith very serious. i have made those comments to her and she says she knows. What is scary is she has told me feels like thru her the devil is making my life harder and she feels guilty about that. the posts have really brought light to this subject and i will need to do my homework on this matter of yoga. i do love her very much and hope she will see how this is casing us problems. thank you all again.

I do hope that things work out properly. We are told in 2 Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

I also had a girlfriend when I came to know Christ, and she refused to even look at the truth, but wanted to continue in her sinning life. Salvation is more important that getting close to someone. As it also says in 1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

My personal experiances aside, there is a wealth of information out in the internet about the dangers of yoga.

The great end times are coming, and we all need to be ready, with our lives mirroring that of Christ.

I am speechless. I had wanted to try yoga at one time, I even enrolled for a free trail class; I remember I was so excited to go to the class and before I left the house that day my mom told me plainly: "You can't serve two masters, you must choose one." I was so confused and disturbed by her words I ended up not going to the yoga session. I looked it up online and found out that Christians shouldn't do yoga, but no one really explained why. I just got a christian workout DVD and the workout person threw in one or two yoga poses and I thought, it can't be all that bad since its not a full yoga workout. When I read your post I saw that the 3 moves she has in there were ones used to salute Hindu Gods! The sun salute, Updog and the Cobra one. I am very speechless, thank you for this post, your experience will surely set others on the right path. In a way you could say this ordeal had happened to you for a reason. Look at all of the comments, people are now informed about the hidden message of yoga. You may have saved many from going down a path of destruction. Thank you so much, God Bless You.

Many thanks indeed for your kind words, and your testimony, for what you write shows clearly that the Lord has taken care of you...

That which I have written herein can be found in many different books, websites etc, as also the personal experiance is not unique to myself. Still, the Lord be blessed indeed for leading you to read this testimony in such a timely fashion, as well as for His leading in writing it...

This is an interesting article. I took a yoga class and was very uncomfortable with the "prayers" at the end of the class and stopped going. I didn't know that the various poses were related to various pagan gods ----- good grief!. The problem with yoga is that it is very self-centered ---- it is not about interacting with other people and reaching out to do good .... India, a bastion of Hinduism, has children starving in the streets and people just step over them without shame. That attitude has a great deal to do with the self-centeredness of Hindu thought and yoga as well. All the yogis I have met over the years are extremely self-centered. No christian is perfect, but we do aspire, with the help of the Lord, to care and reach out to other people. Moreover, I do believe that yoga practice will lead to a mental breakdown in individuals ---- I have seen the trancelike states and the changes in personality ---the moving towards psychotic states of being - the increase in selfishness and the withdrawal from other people that yoga can cause. Even if one were not a christian, I cannot believe that the practice of yoga is "healthy" for individuals or for society. As a christian and imperfect follower of Christ, I do believe that people are opening themselves up to nefarious and self-centered influences with the practice of yoga. I thank you for this article.

[quote] The problem with yoga is that it is very self-centered [\quote]

Many thanks indeed for this very clear statement, and for your support.

I am in South East Asia at the moment, and the following happened.

I was going to my language class and was parking my bike last week. I noticed a young women of european appearance walking backwaords and forwards as if looking for somehting. I asked her "are you lost?" - to which she replied "I am looking for the Yoga class". This yoga class is in the same building as my language class.

Looking for an opportunity to engage in discussion and hopefully to preach the gospel, I asked "Oh, you practise yoga?"

She replied "I'm about to start" - to which I said "Yoga can be very dangerous..." but before having a chance to explain what I meant, she waved her hand at me dismissively and walked of, which of course simply confirms the Bibles description of the current world climate...

Of course, I did not in any way expect another reaction - but had hoped for at least a "why do you say that?" - from someone who has never done yoga( however, I suppose my expectation was somewhat misguided also)

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